


One Perfect Day

by EmeryldLuk



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Confession, Daughter of Dionysus, Daughter of Hades, Demi-Gods, F/F, LGBTQ Character, Original Characters - Freeform, Original Story - Freeform, sun and moon, toxic masculinity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 21:55:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15827700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeryldLuk/pseuds/EmeryldLuk
Summary: On the day of a ceremony dedicated to Aphrodite, Goddess of love, Phoebe confesses her feelings to the love of her life, Lilianah.





	One Perfect Day

Phoebe looked by the water first; she always looked by the water first when trying to find Lilianah. However, today, Lilianah was nowhere to be found in her usual place atop a pile of boulders shiny from ocean spray. The beach of coarse sand was littered with shiny rocks and shells, but only seagulls greeted Phoebe upon the crest of the slope that lead to the docks.

She sighed, running her fingers through her sun bright blonde hair. She found a knot and carefully pulled it undone. She scoured the cove once more with her hazel eyes and turned inland, even more somber.

Almost picturesque in the daylight, an arena and armory nestled in between the hills by the path, paired on the other side with the sprawling stables. Beyond that and further up the hills was the commons, with eating areas, a library, cook house, work houses, smithy, gardens, tannery, and even a bath house. A top the hill could be seen buildings similar to temples in design that were living spaces.

Normally, the place was quiet but for the sounds of training and soft chatter between friends, but today it was busy. The green was being transformed for the festival later tonight. Flower chains were hung on poles staked in a circle like a fence. The children of Aphrodite were giggling as they arranged furniture for people to sit or lie on; Phoebe didn't have to guess what they were giggling about. The fact that people usually ended up getting together with someone for the night was common knowledge and a little expected.

She felt her face flush as she thought of it and her own plans. She imagined the way Lilianah would look with leaves in her sleek black hair and the waves reflecting on her silver eyes.

Phoebe pressed her palms to her cheeks, convinced she was as red as the sun that burned overhead. It was barely past midday and she was running out of time.

Taking a breath, Phoebe mentally ran through the list of places Lilianah liked to go. She had checked the library, where Lilianah loved to browse the old texts, and the Hermes temple, her place to sleep and hide from the world.

Phoebe looked to the hills in the west. She hated going up there, but sometimes Lilianah had been spotted coming down from the forest looking as if she'd slept rough for the night.

"Phoebe!" Nikolas skipped down the path towards her. His laurel wreath was dripping onto his black hair, most likely from taking a challenge. "I have been looking for you all day. Where have you been?"

Phoebe ducked her head, demurely folding her ivy covered hands over her stomach and not meeting his eyes. "Here and there. Some of the Hermes temple have not done the preparations for the festival and I am looking for them."

He tilted his head, eyes sliding past her towards the ocean, his lips pressing together into a thin line. "Pity about that, but I hardly think you should be playing nurse to a bunch of overgrown children. Come, I wish you to be by my side for the ceremony."

He tried to put his arm around Phoebe's waist, but she faked an embarrassed giggle and slipped out of his reach.

"I am honored to be your choice, Nikolas, truly. However, I did make a promise and the ceremony is still hours off. Surely, I have time to complete one silly task before then?"

He frowned, but stood off, slowly taking his arm back. It was a thick arm, bound in muscles and tanned from hard work under the sun for his whole life. Phoebe could hardly count the number of girls in the villa whom would make sacrifices to Aphrodite to have a chance to be held by Nikolas. He was a dream to look at and one of the strongest of the God's Children. He never failed a quest and was one of the oldest. Older than Lilianah, the next strongest, and nearly as old as Heracles had been when he ascended. Phoebe stepped forward, going around him as she let her fingers trace over his hard bicep.

"Any woman would love to have the honor you give to me. I will see you later?"

"Of course." His smile recovered. "I will be assisting with the preparations until the ceremony."

One graceful step at a time, Phoebe hurried away from him, careful not to scrub her hands on her chiton until safely out of his sight. He may be the most desirable, but his personality was absolute bull manure. All of the Children of Nike were obsessed with victory, some worse than others.

Checking that the man was not following her, Phoebe turned off the path, hiking up her hem to step through the black berry bushes and thistles. Any branch that might have tugged and torn at her clothes bent, graciously giving way.

 

Lilianah started that morning by wishing she could sleep in. She shared a room with six other girls, all younger than her and bubbling with energy unlike her. They were the reason she often snuck out to the forest. The temple they lived in was dedicated to Hermes, but there were so many of the Gods' Children that went unclaimed or did not have a dedicated temple. As the eldest Unclaimed, she was charged looking after the younger ones. Most of the time, that meant getting Sylvia up after everyone else had ran out for breakfast and neatening the room when she would rather be dipping her feet in the water.

After reminding everyone of their tasks for the day, she made sure someone else was going to pick up her slack before leaving for the forest. Festivities aside, she had a pounding headache and wanted to avoid running into Chiron until the ceremony had begun.

Lilianah took her time, enjoying the sensations that she could not see. Unlike the others, she was the only God's Child with such bad eyesight to be considered close enough to blind. The most she could see was color in such a blur that it rarely made a difference.

Wearing only undyed gray, she sat with bare feet and long black hair neatly braided over her shoulder. The bark of a tree pressed into her back through her satin chiton. Sage grass tickled her callused toes. Between her fingers, she rolled the stem of a daisy as it slowly wilted.

Feeling the temperature drop, Lilianah got up and brushed off her back. The sky was slowly turning grey and the chill in the air suggested a light drizzle soon enough. As much as she would love to stand and get drenched, it would not be good form to show up dripping and damp.

It was the sensation of the silver and gold in her necklace that alerted Lilianah to Phoebe's presence. They would have completely passed each other up as the rain began, with Phoebe rushing to the cover of the trees and Lilianah headed back home.

Phoebe heard a whisper in the leaves as the rain hit the canopy and thought it was nothing but natural at first. Then a branch bent to point right and another. She knew then to turn and follow the plants' directions.

They met half way at the edge of the treeline. Lilianah brushed droplets from her clothes and waited in the dry space of a thick branch overhead. Phoebe ran the last few steps and flung her arms around Lilianah's neck. Lilianah placed one hand on Phoebe's shoulder blade as she maintained her balance.

"Why so happy? Did someone confess their undying love to you?" Lilianah joked, knowing Phoebe liked girls, not boys.

"I wish. There is someone, but she's just too damn stubborn to feel anything for me, or admit it."

"Oh? So, if you don't have a date for the ceremony, what makes you happy?"

Phoebe smiled and shook her head. "Can't I be happy to see you? Your charges said you left as soon as you could."

"Sorry, I hate all the silliness."

"I know, but I have an idea to make it better."

"Burying Nikolas in sewage?"

Phoebe giggled.

"Turning the Ares Temple into a flower garden?"

"What! No, Lilianah. I mean going with me."

"To the ceremony?"

"Yes." Phoebe grabbed Lilianah's hands. "There's no rule that says our partners have to be dull men. And I would rather spend a year in Hades than stand with Nikolas in this ceremony."

"But for us to stand with each other. This is Aphrodite's day. It means something to stand with you today."

"By all the Gods, Lilianah, how can you be so blind?"

Lilianah rolled her eyes.

"I love you, my Lili, my flower of the moon." Phoebe raised Lilianah's hands to her lips. "Aphrodite be my witness, I have loved you since the day you walked into my life."

"As I recall, you were trapped in a marriage to some scrappy monster with bug eyes," Lilianah muttered.

"Yes! And you arrived, on a quest to find a scepter for Hermes, passing through by chance, snarky, sarcastic, and everything I had ever been looking for. Killing my groom to be only helped. I love the way you fight to be yourself in a male dominated world. I love how you never let any of the other guys put you down for being a girl or for being nearly blind. You're amazing and I want you with me tonight."

"I have always appreciated you, Phoebe. You are a sun even when it rains. I just don't know that I am the right person for you. You deserve someone that isn't so- broken."

"No one stays whole forever. One day, I'll go on a quest that will change me. It is the life we all live as children of the Gods. It is our fate to be grow in infertile soil. The strong will emerge, full of life and beautiful and the weak will perish before they bloom."

"That is astoundingly morose of you."

"I try. So, Lilianah, Daughter of a sailor's daughter, will you join me tonight for the ceremony?"

Lilianah hesitated with a small unheard laugh. She didn't try to take her hands back. Phoebe gripped her fingers tightly enough for the ivy vines to press into her skin, but not tight enough to hurt. She couldn't see the daughter of Dionysus' hopeful expression, but she could feel the happiness and fear radiating from her beating heart. Lilianah felt her own heart skip a beat with worry as a thousand what-ifs ran through her mind.

What if she hurt Phoebe? What if Phoebe changed her mind? What if one of them got hurt? What if- No. Lilianah stamped down the flood of pessimism. She knew there was only one answer worth speaking, and any other thoughts would only get in the way. There was no point to worrying about the future. What happened would happen and you would never know until it did.

Lilianah returned Phoebe's grip. "I could never be as happy as I am to have you in my life, for one day or a thousand. Phoebe, daughter of the Lord Dionysus, I will stand by your side from now until I die."

Phoebe's smile spread. She pulled their hands down to her side, pulling Lilianah's face towards hers. Their lips met and for a moment there was nothing but the taste of rain and sugar.

When they parted, Lilianah's face was pinker than it had been a moment ago.

Phoebe laughed. "Never kissed anyone before?"

"Never wanted to," She admitted and looked down.

The ivy on Phoebe's hands had spread to Lilianah's, forming a sleeve of green leaves over her hand and wrist.

"What?"

"It's my blessing," Phoebe said. "Father said the ivy would react to my emotions and protect me from the elements. And now you're mine, so you also get some ivy to wear."

"That's a little creepy. If I'm yours, then you're mine as well."

"Then maybe you should get me something as well," Phoebe suggested, standing on her toes to kiss Lilianah on the cheek.

Lilianah smirked and held out a hand, palm face down. The earth at their feet shook a little, though it ended soon enough. Three chunks rose up out of the dirt, one with the gleam of silver, the second a glossy black, and the third a ruby the size of a pea.

"Since you insisted, I will have Liones craft you a cuff with no rival."

"I can't wait. Oh, the rain stopped."

Phoebe looped her arm around Lilianah's and leaned on her shoulder. The leaves still dripped, but the clouds had given way to the sun once more, causing the hill to glisten as if with a million diamonds.

"It's beautiful, even if you can't see it," she whispered.

"I don't need to see it if you're here to tell me."

"Then, even if tomorrow is the end of the world, at least we got one perfect day." Phoebe sighed blissfully. "Now, what do you say we go rejoin society?"


End file.
